This invention relates to a banking method and system for processing documents and more particularly, for achieving concurrent, reject-re-entry of sorter rejects of documents such as checks in association with a sorting machine.
The documents such as checks which are used currently in banking systems have certain data such as individual account numbers, bank routing numbers etc., printed thereon in magnetic ink, and this data is commonly referred to as magnetic ink character recognition or MICR data. When a check is received at a bank for processing, the monetary amount of a typical check is written, for example, by a customer in plain or nonmagnetic ink. Part of the general, routine processing of a check requires that the monetary amount of the check be printed thereon in magnetic ink, thereby making it part of the MICR data on the check.
Generally, such typical checks are processed in "batches" of checks with about 200-300 checks being in each batch. Certain accounting or banking operations are performed on a "batch" of such checks. For example, after the checks have the associated monetary amounts printed thereon in MICR ink, the batch of checks may be run through a banking machine such as a check sorter, to sort the checks and to obtain a total monetary amount of all the checks included in that batch of checks. This batch total may be used in subsequent batch operations as a check of the accuracy of those operations.
Continuing with the example of banking operations performed on a check sorter, there are generally two classes of documents processed by these check sorters in a typical installation, namely:
1. Over-the-counter items, and
2. Inclearings.
The over-the-counter items are the items like checks, deposit slips, etc. arising from transactions conducted at the processing bank itself or at its branches. These items are proven and encoded in batches, for example, as previously explained and are then processed by a sorter which is also typically referred to as a reader/sorter. The processing which includes data capture for the creation of "cash letters" etc. generally includes the sorting of documents by passing the documents through the sorter several times or passes depending on different sorting criteria, the number of "sorting pockets" in the particular sorter used, and the particular sorting algorithm associated with the sorter's processing system. Generally, with over-the-counter items, the first or prime pass on the sorter is used to separate the "On-Us" documents from the "Transit" documents, with the On-Us documents being drawn on the processing bank and with the Transit documents being drawn on other banks. Other passes may be used to single out Deposits, Cash In/Out tickets, for example.
Basically, the documents in the Inclearings class are all "On-Us" documents which have been received from "other banks" or clearing facilities, and generally, the only processing activity required on the sorter is the capture of the MICR data, for example, for use in updating and sorting the documents to the individual customer accounts. While this explanation has proceeded with a discussion of MICR data, the reader/sorter mentioned may also have an optical character recognition (OCR) reader associated therewith to also machine-read the data thereon. The capture of the MICR and/or OCR data is used for the updating and sorting of the documents mentioned.
During the activities mentioned on the reader/sorter, some of the documents cannot be interpreted due to poor encoding or printing, dirt, folding, etc.; and consequently, these unreadable documents are sorted into a reject pocket. Those documents which are read properly are sorted into the various pockets of the sorter according to a particular application program or set of routing instructions in effect at the time of sorting. Those documents which lie in the reject pocket generally have to be processed manually to extract the necessary information from the documents and thereafter merge this information into the associated data capture files. The process of manually completing information extraction from the rejected documents, the merging of this extracted information into the proper or associated data capture file, the reconciling of any outstanding balance conditions caused by the rejected documents, and the physical re-entering of the rejected documents back into the associated document processing stream is referred to as REJECT RE-ENTRY.
In a typical prior-art, re-entry system the documents which are rejected at a sorter due to a nonreadable condition, for example, are manually taken to a separate "reject-re-entry transport and console" where data re-entry is effected.
At the re-entry transport/console, data reentry is effected by an operator who visually observes the physical document and enters the needed data on a keyboard to complete it. In some re-entry procedures, the associated console contains MICR/OCR readers to attempt to automatically re-read the document and thereby minimize the amount of data to be manually entered, thereby facilitating the overall re-entry operation. If the re-entry procedure is not on line, the re-entered data is stored in a local memory device and later it is transferred or merged into the main data file. If the system is on-line, the re-entered data is immediately merged into the main data file. In some on-line systems, the associated data processor sometimes sends the keyboard operator location or pointer clues to facilitate isolating the rejected character or characters while the operator is looking at the physical document to facilitate the manual re-entry of data.
In some prior art systems, a bar code is printed or encoded on the back of each document passing through the sorter during the first or prime run; sometimes the bar code is placed on the backs of only the rejected documents during re-entry processing. This bar code is used as a unique identifier and serves as a basis for physical re-entry of the rejected documents back into the main document stream.